The Captain America star said he wanted to do varied roles so he could "transform" himself like the late actor.

"I remember when Sir Laurence Olivier died and I was sitting at home watching television and they were talking about his career and life. As they did, his face morphed into all these different characters he'd played, and I said to myself, 'That's the kind of career you should have'," said the 65-year-old.

"People should look at you and remember all these things you've done and the good memories. That's pretty much what I decided I wanted to do."

He continued: "I was always trying to transform myself like I did in the theatre. I hope I've done enough films that everybody who sees my face during my obituary or whatever will be able to say they had at least movies they enjoyed."

Samuel has starred in films such as Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, Snakes On A Plane, the Star Wars prequel trilogy and the Marvel films, where he plays S.H.I.E.L.D. leader Nick Fury. He reprises that role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

But he said his favourite film is action thriller The Long Kiss Goodnight because "it's such an exciting film and I had such a good time making it".

The actor admitted that Pulp Fiction is also a top film because it has a timeless quality to it.

"The interesting thing is every year, there's a new generation of kids that get old enough to see it. They watch it and think they're the first people to ever see it and all of a sudden I'm cool all over again," he said.